Watch out: Condo commandos on patrol

The new owners of 191 Bradley Place, which formerly housed the Palm Beach Steakhouse, seem to be doing just fine at getting their new boutique steakhouse, Meat Market, off the ground in Palm Beach. They sailed through an Architectural Review Commission evaluation of renovation plans for the historic building, and then got the site plan approval and variance they needed from the Town Council, all in a matter of weeks. Impressive.

The three South Beach partners behind the project, Executive Chef Sean Brasell, Nelson Fox and David Tornek have decided to play it safe and acquiesce to some of the concerns brought up by neighboring condo residents about noise, traffic and hours of business. They added some-noise resistant glass, enclosed a Dumpster area and are beefing up the ventilation system to reduce odors as good-faith efforts.

Yes, things are going swimmingly. But history dictates that they shouldn’t be too overconfident where Palm Beach condo neighbors are involved. Letters of concern by neighbors have already laid down the gauntlet.

Face it. Some of the neighbors don’t like the name Meat Market. A sly bit of humor that I’m sure they love in South Beach, their other location, but as one couple from across the street put it, “Palm Beach is not South Beach.”

Experience tells us that Palm Beach neighbors don’t really understand cynical humor, and they’re not going to crack a smile at any name that evokes the idea of, as one critic put it, a “pick-up joint.” Even after reassurances that the restaurant will not be a nightclub, these folks, more than likely, will not be swayed.

Take the case of E.R. Bradley’s when it was located right down the street a few years back. They made the mistake of having a few parties and the next thing they knew, they might as well have been doing business across the street from a nest of spies. As my Jan. 7, 1996 Palm Beach Daily News cartoon illustrates, the video cameras came out and Bradley’s customers found themselves under surveillance by condo commandos.

So a word of advice to you South Beach boys: don’t slip up. Every loud lover’s quarrel on your sidewalk, screeching tire from a lead-footed valet, loud bang from a Dumpster lid — it’ll all be noted. The upside is that you won’t have to pay for security cameras.